Sandy beaches, fish and chips, a seaside breeze. Falmouth doesn’t sound like such a bad place to live on the surface.
And yet the Cornish coastal town has been voted the most miserable place in the country to live, with some claiming it ‘saps the residents’ will to live’. Ouch.
People voting on the ILiveHere website ranked 20 of the worst places to live in the UK, giving their verdict on the ‘most depressing locations’ in the land.
Famed for quaint cobbled streets, the imposing Pendennis Castle and the world’s third largest natural harbour, voters said Falmouth was giving residents ‘a terminal case of ennui.’
Closely following Falmouth were Peterborough (aka the UK’s cheapest commuter town), then Aberdeen.
ILiveHere asked voters to submit their thoughts on the most ‘bland, boring, soulless, uncultured middle-England municipalities of mediocrity’ and people were ruthless.
‘The power of social media and word of mouth is what propelled Falmouth to No.1,’ it said on the site.
‘Falmouth was a reader entry and rapidly started to challenge the mighty Peterborough, beating the Cambridgeshire synonym for depression by just 27 votes in the last 12hrs of voting.’
Top 20 most depressing towns in the UK
- Falmouth, Cornwall
- Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
- Aberdeen, Scotland
- Alloa, Scotland
- Tiverton, Devon
- Yeovil, Somerset
- Ellesmere Port, Cheshire
- Portsmouth, Hampshire
- Paignton, Devon
- Crawley, West Sussex
- Luton, Bedfordshire
- Croydon, Greater London
- Swindon, Wiltshire
- Widnes, Cheshire
- Torquay, Devon
- Teignmouth, Devon
- Blackpool, Lancashire
- Wells, Somerset
- Basingstoke, Hampshire
- Chatham, Kent
Either the Cornwall town residents hate their homeplace or it’s a clever rouse to ward off visitors and landlords looking to turn properties into Airbnbs.
On a more serious note, the seaside town has faced financial struggle in recent years, so living there certainly comes with its challenges for many. Research by the Action for Children charity found that In Truro and Falmouth, 4,075 (26%) of children were living in poverty.
But on social media, tourists and residents of Falmouth largely seem to disagree with the poll.
One Falmlouth visitor took to Twitter to say he had a lovely time there. Account holder @Diskeykid1995 wrote: ‘I visited Falmouth in 2022. Green hills, beautiful beaches, blue water. Warm and friendly residents. And the rum wasn’t bad either.’
On TikTok, user Liz Summers wrote: ‘I love Falmouth so much, it feels so small and cozy and there’s so much to do and see’.
Wayne Pellow, who grew up in the town wrote on TikTok: ‘It’s a beautiful place isn’t it? I was born and bred here and I’m forever thankful’.
Emma Hill, a student who moved there for university also concurred, saying: ‘If you like a very chill lifestyle then Falmouth is amazing!!’.
Where do you think should have taken the crown? Let us know in the comments.
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